Despite fears of being woefully off the pace, McLaren dominated Practice Two in Melbourne with Jenson Button leading Lewis Hamilton.
With pre-season testing not going according to plan for McLaren, the team introduced a heavily revised MP4-26 in Australia on Friday. The car includes a modified exhaust system, similar to that on the Ferrari and Red Bull.
And the changes provided instant improvements for Button and Hamilton, who were the quickest two in Practice Two. Button, who won the last two Australian GPs, set the pace with a 1:25.854 while Hamilton was 0.132s behind his team-mate.
Fernando Alonso brought his Ferrari home in third place, outpacing the Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. The Red Bull drivers, though, each spent some time at the top of the timesheets.
Michael Schumacher, another to lead the way during the session, was sixth quickest, beating early pace-setter Felipe Massa and Sauber rookie Sergio Perez.
Rubens Barrichello and Nico Rosberg completed the top ten.
Report: It was an overcast start to the day's second practice session in Melbourne with the threat of rain looming over the circuit. Sergio Perez was the first to set a lap time, a 1:37.308. The Sauber rookie was also the first to run off the track in the slippery conditions but improved by over seven seconds on his next lap. Adrian Sutil took second place ahead of Sebastien Buemi, Jaime Alguersuari, Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, Practice One's pace-setter. Vettel improved to second.
Fernando Alonso as the next to lead the way with a 1:28.393 but he soon lost out to Jenson Button, who in turn was overhauled by Michael Schumacher. The Mercedes GP driver crossed the line with a 1:27.979. Felipe Massa climbed to fourth place while Lewis Hamilton did well to catch the back end of his McLaren after hitting a bump through Turn One and Two. He went on to set the fastest lap by 0.821s over Massa before Button made it a McLaren 1-2.
Nico Rosberg joined the fight at the front, taking second place while Jarno Trulli joined the list of those running wide and off the track. Pastor Maldonado had done it previously. Button was the next to top the times but his stay was short-lived as Schumacher went quickest with a 1:26.590.
Fernando Alonso, who Ferrari reported had an "issue" with his F150, improved to fourth place, half a second off the pace, while Buemi climbed to eighth behind his team-mate Alguersuari. However, on his next lap the Swiss driver ran off the track. Button jumped to the P1 slot in his heavily revised McLaren with a 1:26.156. Hamilton slotted in behind his team-mate with Webber taking third place before being dropped by Alonso and then Vettel.
With the rain coming down lightly in the final ten minutes with race control declaring the "wet track", which meant the drivers were no longer permitted to use their adjustable rear wings. The rain also meant the drivers were not able to improve on their times and the session ended with Button ahead of Hamilton and Alonso.
Times
01. Jenson Button McLaren 01:25.854 32 laps
02. Lewis Hamilton McLaren 01:25.986 31 laps
03. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 01:26.001 28 laps
04. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 01:26.014 35 laps
05. Mark Webber Red Bull 01:26.283 33 laps
06. Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP 01:26.590 31 laps
07. Felipe Massa Ferrari 01:26.789 34 laps
08. Sergio Perez Sauber 01:27.101 39 laps
09. Rubens Barrichello Williams 01:27.280 34 laps
10. Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP 01:27.448 23 laps
11. Jaime Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso 01:27.525 31 laps
12. Vitaly Petrov Renault 01:27.528 29 laps
13. Nick Heidfeld Renault 01:27.536 22 laps
14. Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso 01:27.697 30 laps
15. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 01:28.095 35 laps
16. Paul di Resta Force India F1 01:28.376 33 laps
17. Adrian Sutil Force India F1 01:28.583 31 laps
18. Pastor Maldonado Williams 01:29.386 29 laps
19. Heikki Kovalainen Team Lotus 01:30.829 22 laps
20. Jarno Trulli Team Lotus 01:30.912 23 laps
21. Jerome d' Ambrosio Virgin Racing 01:32.106 36 laps
22. Timo Glock Virgin Racing 01:32.926 30 laps
23. Vitantonio Liuzzi Hispania no time 1 lap
24. Narain Karthikeyan Hispania no time
